FROM 2012 INTO 2013 POLITICS THREAD

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

The argument being made was that health insurance should be insurance, not prepaid health care. BY DEFINITION customers would be buying less coverage. It is axiomatic that health insurance expenditures would decrease. Any savings to be passed on would be completely beyond the purview of insurance companies.

Further, experience has shown that when patients must foot the bill for their care, strangely enough [/bluefont] prices come down. Lasik and bariatric surgery immediately come to mind, but there are many, many more examples.

Finally, this statement of yours is just absolutely ridiculous:

If doctors had the competitive flexibility you seem to think they have, there would be no way in hell you could see a doctor for a cold. It'd be major visit or nothing.

In all honesty, I think I'm going to need to put you on ignore. Otherwise I am going to need to see my doctor about my blood pressure.

 

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

Just love this quote from Jeffrey Toobin:

"The game that captivates the rest of the world remains only a niche product at home. Soccer is the Canada of American sports, viewed less with contempt than with indifference."

 

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

I have to get a minor hip surgery. My doctor just told me Cigna, my health insurance provider, will not cover the procedure because Cigna deems it "experimental." I have had this procedure done in the facet joints in my back and it was covered, but not for the hip. The invoice for the procedure on my back, when I looked into it, was $2,600. I told my doctor I was going to have to pass because I couldn't afford $2,600 at this time.

He looked at me like I was nuts. He then told me they give a "discount" for cash payment or for self-payers. How much? He then told me the cash price for the procedure would be roughly $750. Same procedure they charge the insurance company $2,600 for they would do for $750.

Two things here. First, I do think if we paid as we went with doctors the cost curve would bend very far down. If they do not have to go through all the paperwork and red tape to get things covered they would make care less expensive. Second, how the hell can he get away with this? A "discount" of almost two grand? Yes, ladies and gentlemen, our health care system is screwed up...but the answer is NOT adding more government involvement. I am a conservative Republican who understands we either have to go completely market-based or completely single-payer. If we go market-based we need tort reform and the other ideas some of the Republicans were talking about (across state lines, for instance).

However, if we end up with single-payer there are ways to make it work. Instead of crying "socialism" and barking at the moon, maybe the Republicans could get involved in developing a rational, decent compromise. I know it's hard to do that without a seat at the table, but Obama does not have to worry about re-election anymore. He has a legacy to be concerned with and maybe, just maybe, everyone can work together to figure this problem out.

If the Republicans are so afraid of Obamacare, which I think they should be, start throwing out solutions with specificity instead of just tossing around platitudes. I think they might be surprised to find out people actually will listen to them.

 

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

"Americans get pummeled every few years for knowing and caring so little about the "world's game," but that's the world's problem, not ours. We're the nation with an embarrassing array of options, and that is a blessing that will never be confused with a curse. The U.S. loses to Germany on Friday, we'll get up from the table, walk across the room and check the box scores to see if Luis Castillo kept that hit streak going for the Marlins."

- Mark Kreidler

 

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

I think I would run from a doctor that wanted to do a "cash deal".

 

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

Lasik eye surgery? Really? An optional surgery so people don't have to wear eyeglasses or contacts? And here I'm the one who usually gets ripped on for ridiculous examples.

Of course patients pay for Lasik surgery out of their own pocket. It's only done for cosmetic reasons. Bariatric surgery is a relatively new phenomenon, which, while there are medical benefits, there is also a high risk of complications. Which is one reason why insurance companies don't want to pay for it. Plus, they would prefer the patients use less invasive ways to lose weight.

Your DEFINITION also doesn't take into account that, even though people may be buying less coverage, that prices may not go down to match the savings. Like I said earlier, there isn't much competition among companies in the health insurance field. Patients have to choose the plans their companies offer, or pay more to go on their own.

 

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

How much would it have cost you out of pocket if your insurance company had covered it?

 

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

Or you could adopt a civilized health insurance policy where medical care isn't a commodity. You know, like the rest of the civilized world.

My brother recently had a mitral valve replacement which, based on a little research, would have cost around $50,000 in the US. He would have been forced to sell his house for that. Or, I guess, he could have lived with it and maybe died prematurely

His cost up here? Parking and a rental TV.

He was out of the hospital in a week (no hospital fees), has been back to see his surgeon and has a clean bill of health.

 

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

That's just mind-boggling.
I wish USA were mind-boggling.

 

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

Why were the 2010 midterms such a GOP stampede?

1) Because the lunatic teabaggers, abetted by their enablers and cheerleaders in the corporatist MSM, screamed OBUMMMABUMMABUMMBONGOBOOGIEWOOGIEMMOOOOSLIMNEEGROCARE!!! KILLING YOUR GRANNY!! WE WANT OUR COUNTREE BACK!!!!!

2) Because as a result of 1), Team Obama basically curled up in the fetal position and cowered on the floor.

3) Because as a result of 1) and 2), the entire Democratic base said 'fuck it, if they're not going to even stand up and defend themselves, fuck 'em' and stayed home.

3) In addition, nobody on even the centrist side of the Dems had any particular enthusiasm for defending Obamacare for the very reason Team Obama thought it would be so attractive to those mythical 'centrist Republicans' -- it was nearly a straight crib from Romneycare, more than anything else it covers the asses of the insurance companies, and of course it has no single payer.


So, Team Kumbayabama, in its unicorn hunt to build bridges of trust and understanding with those mythical 'centrist Republicans,' alienated and threw away their most committed supporters, ensured those supporters who remained would be listless and unenthusiastic at best, and ensured that midterm losses would be catastrophic rather than incidental.

All in order to curry favor with a bunch who wants nothing more, nothing less and nothing other than to see Barack Obama hanging from the nearest telephone pole. Great thinkin guys.

 

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

http://exiledonline.com/why-soccer-sucks-the-antidote-to-world-cup-idiocy/

 

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

$10 co-pay